Supersonic vibration driven motor device

ABSTRACT

A supersonic vibration driven motor comprising a supersonic oscillator and a mass rotationally driven thereby. The oscillator is provided with a vibration disc secured thereto on an end face thereof opposite to the mass to be driven. The mass is integrally formed with a plurality of plate-shaped resilient vibratory pieces annularly arranged on the end face opposite to the oscillator and axially extending at a predetermined angle of inclination relative to the axis of the mass, the vibration disc and vibratory pieces being located so as to come in contact with each other at their end portions, whereby vibratory displacement of the supersonic oscillator is transformed into rotational movement of the mass by way of flexible deformation of the vibratory pieces. Alternatively, the resilient vibratory pieces may be formed integrally with the vibration disc. A plurality of supersonic oscillators may be annularly arranged and located so as to come in contact with the end face of the mass so that operational phases of the respective supersonic oscillators have a predetermined phase relationship ensuring even and smooth rotation. A plurality of supersonic oscillators integrally formed with vibratory pieces and arranged in linear alignment may be located so as to come in contact with a mass to be linearly driven, whereby vibratory displacement of the supersonic oscillators is transformed into linear movement of the mass by way of flexible deformation of the vibratory pieces.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a supersonic vibration driven motordevice, and more particularly relates to a motor device which isconstructed such that vibratory displacement of the supersonicoscillator is transformed into rotational or linear movement of a massto be driven by way of flexible deformation of vibratory pieces.

2. Brief Description of the Prior Art

Almost all conventional motor devices used in a variety of industriesare driven by electromagnetic energy. In conventional motor devices,however, the dimensions, weight, rotary force (torque) and other factorsare limited by the materials and structure of the devices. Since thecharacteristic functions of the motor device depend on magneticproperties, mechanical strength, and other characteristics of thematerials used, it has been impossible to design and construct, in thehitherto known manner, a motor device having higher power in a smallersize than the conventional ones.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Hence, the present invention is intended to eliminate the drawbacksmentioned above associated with conventional motor devices. Theprinciple of the invention lies in the fact that vibratory energy of asupersonic oscillator is transformed into rotational or linear movementof a mass to be driven by the flexible deformation of a number ofplate-shaped resilient vibratory pieces.

In accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, there isproposed a supersonic vibration driven motor device essentiallycomprising a supersonic oscillator and a mass to be rotationally drivenby way of supersonic vibration, wherein the supersonic oscillator isprovided with a vibration disc secured thereto on the end face thereofwhich is opposite to the mass to be driven. The mass to be driven isintegrally formed with a plurality of plate-shaped resilient vibratorypieces annularly arranged on the end face opposite to the oscillator andaxially extending at a predetermined angle of inclination relative tothe axis of the mass to be rotated, the vibration disc and vibratorypieces being located so as to come in contact at the end portionsthereof, whereby vibratory displacement of the supersonic oscillator istransformed into rotational movement of the mass by way of flexibledeformation of said vibratory pieces. Alternatively, the aforesaidplate-shaped resilient vibratory pieces may be formed integrally withthe vibration disc secured to the supersonic oscillator.

In accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention, aplurality of supersonic oscillators are annularly arranged and locatedso as to come in contact with the vibratory pieces, wherein operationalphases of the respective supersonic oscillators lag each other by apredetermined phase angle. Thus, even and smooth rotation is ensured forthe mass. Also in the case of this embodiment, the vibratory pieces maybe formed integrally with the vibration disc secured to the supersonicoscillator.

Further, in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention,there is proposed a supersonic vibration driven motor essentiallycomprising a plurality of supersonic oscillators linearly arranged andconnected one after another with the aid of supporting members, and amass to be linearly driven by said supersonic oscillators, wherein eachsupersonic oscillator is provided, at its face toward the mass, with avibration disc on whose end face is integrally formed a plurality ofplate-shaped resilient vibratory pieces which are spaced apart andinclined at a predetermined angle and arranged linearly, and the mass tobe linearly driven and said vibratory pieces are located so as to comein contact, whereby vibratory displacement of the supersonic oscillatorsis transformed into linear movement of the mass by flexible deformationof said vibratory pieces.

Thus it is an object of the present invention to provide a supersonicvibration driven motor device which is different from the conventionalmotor device in structure and function and is designed and constructedwith a smaller size and lighter weight owing to the arrangement wherebyvibratory energy of supersonic oscillators is transformed intorotational or linear movement of a mass to be driven by way of flexibledeformation of vibratory pieces.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a supersonicvibration driven motor device which is simple in structure andinexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects and advantageous features of the present invention will bereadily apparent from the following description with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

Now the present invention will be described in more detail withreference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate the preferredembodiments of the invention, in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a supersonic vibration driven motor devicein accordance with the first embodiment of the invention, sectioned inthe longitudinal direction.

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of the motor device in FIG. 1,particularly illustrating a significant part thereof in a larger scalethan that of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the driven rotor, taken along line III--III inFIG. 2 and seen in the direction designated with arrow marks.

FIGS. 4(A) through (C) are partial schematic illustrations of thevibration disc of the supersonic oscillator and a vibratory piece on thedriven body respectively, shown in enlarged scale for facilitatingunderstanding of the principle of operation of the motor device inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic illustration of a force angle, in which thecompressive force imparted to the vibratory piece due to the vibratorydisplacement of the vibration disc is reduced to two components in the Xdirection and Y direction.

FIG. 6(A) is a diagram illustrating the relation between displacement ofthe vibration disc of the supersonic oscillator and time.

FIG. 6(B) is another diagram illustrating the movement L of a vibratorypiece and the movement N of the driven body, that is, the rotor, as afunction of time.

FIG. 7(A) is a schematic sectional view of the motor device inaccordance with another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7(B) is a front view of the driven rotor, taken along line VII--VIIin FIG. 7(A) and seen in the direction designated by arrow marks, and

FIG. 8 is a partial schematic sectional view of the motor device inaccordance with another embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

In FIG. 1 the reference numeral 11 designates a motor casing in which asupersonic vibrator 12 is disposed so as to be vibratively displaced toboth the left and the right. At the right part of said casing 11, arotor 13 is rotatably arranged between ball bearings 14. As is apparentfrom the drawing, said supersonic oscillator 12 and rotor 13 are locatedsuch that the right end face of the oscillator faces the left end faceof the rotor. Specifically, the rotor 13 to be driven is integrallyformed at the left end with a plurality of vibratory pieces 15, saidvibratory pieces 15 axially protruding at a predetermined angle ofinclination relative to the axis of the rotor 13, while a vibration disc16 is secured to the right end face of the supersonic oscilator 12.

Said vibration disc 16 and said vibratory pieces 15 are located suchthat the former is brought into contact with the end faces of thelatter. The reference numeral 17 designates bearing tightening threads,the reference numeral 18 denotes a retaining nut for the rotor 13, thereference numeral 19 denotes an electromagnetic coil, and the referencenumeral 20 denotes a casing cover.

In FIG. 2 a significant portion of the motor device in accordance withthe invention is schematically illustrated in a considerably largerscale. A plurality of vibratory pieces 15, integrally protruding fromthe left end face of the rotor 13, are brought in contact with thevibration disc 16 secured to the right end face of the supersonicoscillator 12. The vibratory pieces 15 obliquely extend at apredetermined angle of inclination relative to the axis of the rotor 13which is rotatably supported by bearing means 14, such as ball bearingsor the like.

Now a typical method for producing the plurality of vibratory pieces 15will be described. First, a circular recess having a diameter smallerthan the outer diameter of a metal rod is bored to a predetermineddepth, and then the resultant annular portion is subjected to a slottingoperation at a predetermined angle of inclination relative to thecentral axis. As a result, the required vibratory pieces are obtained asillustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3. In particular, FIG. 3 is a front view ofvibratory pieces 15 produced in the above-described manner, taken alongline III--III in FIG. 2 and seen in the direction designated by arrowmarks. It will be readily understood that the vibratory pieces arelocated at a certain distance from each other along the annular portionof the rotor 13. In the case of the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1and 2, the slotting operation is performed in the direction extendingfrom the upper right to the lower left. Alternatively, it is possible toperform the slotting operation in the opposite direction, that is, inthe direction extending from the upper left to the lower right, wherebythe rotor will be rotated in the opposite direction.

Next, the principles of operation of the motor device in accordance withthe present invention will be described. First, as illustrated in FIG.4(A), it is assumed that an origin 0 for an x - y coordinate system islocated at the lower part of the left end face 15a of the vibratorypiece 15 against which the right end face 16a of the vibration disc 16comes in abutment. In this connection it is to be noted that an angle θof inclination relative to the axis of the rotor 13 should be chosensmaller than the friction angle between the vibration disc 16 and thevibratory piece 15.

As the vibration disc 16 starts to vibrate and displaces by a distanceΔX in the X direction, the end face 15a of the vibratory piece 15 iscompressively displaced in the positive X direction. Due to the factthat the rotor 13 is immobile in the axial direction, a component f_(y)in the Y direction is derived from the compressive force f imparted tothe vibratory piece 15, corresponding to the displacement ΔX in the Xdirection, as illustrated in FIG. 5. The vibratory piece 15 is thusdisplaced away from the axis of the rotor 13 in the Y direction. Thedisplacement of the vibratory piece 15 in the Y direction is designatedby ΔY₁. (see FIG. 4(B)).

Next, as the vibration disc 16 is displaced by a distance ΔX in thenegative X direction in the next operational phase, the right end face16a of the vibration disc 16 parts from the left end face 15a of thevibratory piece 15, causing the frictional force therebetween todisappear. Thus the portion 15a of the vibratory piece 15 is flexiblydeformed and thereby displaced in the positive Y direction in accordancewith the characteristic frequency of the vibratory piece 15, whereby therotor 13 is rotated by ΔY₂ in the Y direction due to its own inertialforce. (see FIG. 4(C)). As the vibration disc 16 continues to vibrate,the relation between the vibration disc 16 and the next vibratory piece15 is restored to the original state as illustrated in FIG. 4(A). Byrepeating the above-described operational steps, the rotor 13 continuesto be rotated.

FIGS. 6(A) and (B) are intended to graphically illustrate theabove-described operational steps of the motor device in accordance withthe invention. FIG. 6(A) shows the movement of the vibration disc 16relative to time, while FIG. 6(B) shows the movement L of the vibratorypiece 15 at its left end portion 15a. It is to be noted that theaforesaid movement L of the vibratory piece 15 is composed of theamplitude M of the vibratory piece 15 itself and the movement N of therotor 13. In both graphs, the period from time t₁ to time t₂ on theabscissa represents an operational step during which the vibration disc16 comes in contact with the vibratory piece 15, while the period fromt₂ to t₃ represents the next operational step during which the vibrationdisc 16 moves away from the vibratory piece 15. During the former periodof time, the rotor is operatively driven, while during the latter periodof time, the rotor is rotated only by inertial force without any powersupply.

As mentioned abpve. the principle of the present invention lies in thefact that the vibratory movement of the vibration disc 16 secured to thesupersonic oscillator is transformed into rotational movement of therotor 13 by way of flexible deformation of the vibratory pieces 15 whichhave excellent resilience, wherein the displacement of the vibratorypieces 15 located remote from the axis of the rotor 13 producesrotational torque on the rotor, so that the required continuous rotationof the latter is achieved.

It is to be noted that in FIGS. 1 to 4 the present invention has beendescribed with the motor device in which the vibratory pieces 15 areformed integrally with the rotor 13 to be driven, but it shouldn't belimited only to this arrangement. Said vibratory pieces 15 may, forexample, be integral with the vibration disc 16 secured to thesupersonic oscillator 12.

FIGS. 7 and 8 schematically illustrate a motor device in accordance withother embodiments of the invention, respectively. In FIG. 7(A), thereference numeral 21 designates a plurality of supersonic oscillators,each of which is integrally formed with vibratory pieces 22. Saidvibratory pieces 22, axially extending at a predetermined angle ofinclination, are brought in contact against the left end face of a rotor23 to be driven. The vibratory pieces 22 are arranged at a predeterminedangle of inclination relative to the axis of the rotor 23 to be drivenin the same manner as in the case of the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 1. FIG. 7(B) is a sectional view of the motor device, taken alongline VII--VII in FIG. 7(A) as seen in the direction designated by thearrow marks. Said vibratory pieces 22 are located so as to come incontact with an annular peripheral portion 23' of the rotor 23, wherebyvibratory movement of the supersonic oscillators 21 in the axialdirection causes the rotor 23 to be rotationally driven by way offlexible deformation of the vibratory pieces 22 in accordance with theprinciple illustrated in FIG. 4. In this embodiment, the respectivesupersonic oscillators 21 are located in such a manner that, duringdriving operation of the rotor, they are not actuated in the same phase,but with a certain relative phase displacement between them, wherebysmooth rotation is ensured for the rotor 23.

In this embodiment, the vibratory pieces 22 are formed integrally with avibration disc (not shown) secured to the supersonic oscillators 21.Alternatively, the vibratory pieces 22 may be integral with the rotor 23in the same manner as in the case of the first embodiment illustrated inFIGS. 1 through 4.

Further referring to FIG. 8 which illustrates another embodiment of theinvention, a plurality of supersonic oscillators 31 are shown to belinearly disposed one after another, each being connected to theadjacent oscillator with the aid of support rods 32. The respectivesupersonic oscillators 31 are integrally formed, at their lower ends,with vibratory pieces 33 which extend at a predetermined angle ofinclination. As the supersonic oscillators 31 vibrate in the verticaldirection, the vibratory pieces 33 are flexibly deformed, and a linearlyextending mass 34, in the form of a plate or rod, is thereby linearlydriven in the direction designated by an arrow mark.

Thus the supersonic vibration driven motor device in accordance with thepresent invention has been described with respect to its principle ofoperation and in reference to its preferred embodiments. As is apparentfrom the above description, it can be concluded that the motor device ofthe invention is new and unique, since the same is operated in adifferent manner from conventional motor devices, that is, in such amanner that supersonic vibratory energy is transformed into rotationalor linear movement by way of flexible deformation of vibratory pieces.The motor device of the present invention is capable of generating highrotational force as well as linear driving force at a higher operativespeed with a smaller structure. Finally, it is to be added that themotor device of the invention can be put to use in substantially thesame fields of application as those of conventional ones.

It should, of course, be understood that the present invention isn'tlimited only to the above-described embodiments; it may be changed ormodified in a suitable manner without any departure from the spirit andscope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A supersonic vibration driven motor devicecomprising:a supersonic oscillator; and a mass to be rotationally drivenby way of supersonic vibration, said supersonic oscillator beingprovided with a vibration disc secured thereto on an end face thereofwhich is opposite to said mass to be driven; said mass to be drivenbeing integrally formed with a plurality of plate-shaped resilientvibratory pieces annularly arranged on an end face thereof opposite tosaid oscillator and axially extending at a predetermined angle ofinclination relative to the axis of the mass to be rotated, saidvibration disc and vibratory pieces being located so that theirrespective end portions come in contact with one another, vibratorydisplacement of the supersonic oscillator, in a direction transverse tothe face of said mass being transformed into rotational movement of themass by the flexible deformation of said vibratory pieces, and furtherincluding additional supersonic oscillators, all of the oscillatorsbeing coupled to one another with the aid of supporting members andlocated so as to come in contact with the vibratory pieces formedintegrally with the mass to be driven and arranged on the end face ofthe supersonic oscillator in such a manner that operational phases ofthe respective oscillators lag each other by a predetermined phase angleso as to obtain even and smooth rotation of the mass.
 2. A supersonicvibration driven motor device as set forth in claim 1, wherein thevibratory pieces formed integrally with the mass to be driven areinclined in the forward direction relative to movement of the mass, asseen from the supersonic oscillator.
 3. A supersonic vibration drivenmotor device as set forth in claim 2 wherein the angle of inclination ofthe vibratory pieces relative to a plane perpendicular to the end faceof the mass to be driven is predetermined to be smaller than thefriction angle between the vibration disc secured to the supersonicoscillator and the vibratory pieces.
 4. A supersonic vibration drivenmotor device as set forth in claim 1 wherein the angle of inclination ofthe vibratory pieces relative to a plane perpendicular to the end of themass to be driven is predetermined to be smaller than the friction anglebetween the vibration disc secured to the supersonic oscillator and thevibratory pieces.
 5. A supersonic vibration driven motor devicecomprising:a supersonic oscillator; and a mass to be rotationally drivenby way of supersonic vibration, said supersonic oscillator beingprovided, at a face thereof toward the mass, with a vibration discsecured thereto, said vibration disc being integrally formed on its endface with a plurality of plate-shaped resilient vibratory piecesannularly arranged and opposing said mass and axially extending at apredetermined angle of inclination relative to the axis of the mass tobe rotated, said vibratory pieces and mass to be driven being located sothat their respective end portions come in contact with one another,vibratory displacement of the supersonic oscillator in a directiontransverse to the face of said mass being transformed into rotationalmovement of the mass by the flexible deformation of said vibratorypieces, and further including additional oscillations and vibratorypieces, the vibratory pieces being formed integrally with vibrationdiscs secured to supersonic oscillators which are annularly arranged andcoupled to one another with the aid of supporting members and beinglocated so as to come in contact with the mass to be driven in such amanner that operational phases of the respective oscillators lag eachother by predetermined phase angle so as to obtain even and smoothrotation of the mass.
 6. A supersonic vibration driven motor devicecomprising:a plurality of supersonic oscillators linearly arranged andcoupled to one another with the aid of supporting members; and a mass inthe form of a plate or a rod to be linearly driven by said supersonicoscillators, each supersonic oscillator being provided with a vibrationdisc integrally formed with a plurality of plate-shaped resilientvibratory pieces which are extended at a predetermined angle ofinclination and arranged in linear alignment, said mass to be linearlydriven having a face and vibratory pieces being located so that theirrespective end portions come in contact with said face, vibratorydisplacement of the supersonic oscillators in a direction transverse tothe face of said mass being transformed into linear movement of the massby way of flexible deformation of said vibratory pieces.
 7. A supersonicvibration driven motor device as set forth in claim 5 or 6, wherein thevibratory pieces formed integrally with the vibration disc secured tothe supersonic oscillator are inclined in the forward direction relativeto movement of the mass, as seen from the supersonic oscillator.
 8. Asupersonic vibration driven motor device as set forth in claim 7,wherein the angle of inclination of the vibratory pieces relative to aplane perpendicular to the face of the mass to be driven ispredetermined to be smaller than the friction angle between the mass tobe driven and the vibratory pieces.
 9. A supersonic vibration drivenmotor device as set forth in claim 5 or 6 wherein the angle ofinclination of the vibratory pieces relative to a plane perpendicular tothe face of the mass to be driven is predetermined to be smaller thanthe friction angle between the mass to be driven and the vibratorypieces.